Biochar Solutions Production Equipment

Biochar Solutions' production equipment optimizes biochar for the characteristics of fixed carbon and high surface area, through exothermic production. BSI equipment is capable of continuously processing woodchip and nut hull feedstock into biochar in a proprietary, two-stage process. Other feedstock is possible to run in the equipment using a variety of operation techniques not all of which are continuous. The following two stage process is focused on the processing of a dry woodchip feedstock free of dirt, rocks and fines.

In the first stage of the process, the material is carbonized in a controlled aerobic (O2 limited) environment at a temperature between 500-700 °C for less than one minute. This process takes place in the primary reactor; this is the first large cylinder on the equipment skid. All the heat (thermal energy) for the process is produced in the exothermic partial oxidation reaction. Temperatures are controlled by managing the ratio of available air to biomass and ensuring that it is below the combustion ratio. This management of air to biomass allows for the preservation of solid carbon (biochar) while driving off nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, and other biomass constituent components.

In the second stage, material is held in a hot gas environment for up to fourteen minutes at a temperature between 300-550 °C before the material is removed from the process through an auger system. The pyrolysis gas produced in the first stage of the process is used as sweep gas for the second stage, and is primarily composed of N2, H2, CO, CH4, and other higher VOCs and trace gases. No oxygen is available in the second stage of the process.​Two size fractions of biochar are produced: approximately 80% of material is approximately 1.5cm long by 1cm wide by .5cm thick, and about 20% of the material is a fine dust fraction on the order of 10s to 100s of microns. Example input and output rates of feedstock, biochar and energy are displayed in a table below. ​